Type-writing machine.



F. W. HILLARD.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 25, 1896.,

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

nesse; l WE d M g erl'c 1" a1" F. .W. HILLARD.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APILIOATION FILIED AUG. 25, 1896.

. 1,025,089. v Patented Apr.30, 1912.

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TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION 111mm AUG. 25, 1896.

1,025,089, Patented Apr. 30, 1912. j

' 4 SHEETS-BEBE! 8.

W'i me 5 BBQ Inventor,

' ericw HIH afd M ma F. W. HILLARIL TYPE WRITING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1896.

Patentd Apr. 30, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4- Witnesses= Inventor,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERIC W. HILLARD, 0F TOTTENVILLE, NEW YORK.

. r rrrwnrrmcr MACHINE.-

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed August 25, 1896. Serial No. 603,845.

PatentedApr. 30, 1912.

To all whom it ma concern:

Be it known that I, Fnnonmo .HIL- LARD, a citizen of "the United States of America, and residing at Tottenville, county of Richmond, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writing "Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in typewriting machines, itsprimary aim being to produce a typewriter with the double ad- In pursuance of a requirement ofvdivision ofthePatent Oflice, the claims of this application are limited to carriage and platen shifting mechanisms; and the other features shown and described herein are claimed in my other pending application's, which are divisions hereof, filed and serially numbered as follows: Serial No. 727 ,275, filed' Aug. 15,

1899; Serial No. 130,7 56, filed Nov. 10, 1902; Serial No. 232,251, filed Nov. 10, 1904, (Patent No. 923,120, granted March 25, 1909); Serial No. 233,366, filed 'NOV. 18, 1904, (Patent No. 923,121, granted -March 25, 1909) Serial No. 234,065, filed Nov. 23,

1904; Serial No. 485,147, filed March. 22, 1909.

The carriage and platenshifting mecha nisms invention claimed herein relate especially to the class of machines commonly designated and known as from strike typewriters; and 'the machine shown herein comprises a carriage supported at the front and rear on parallel guide rails, the front rail being at one level and the rear one at a higher level. The carriage is adapted to travel endwise on the rails, lengthwisethereof across the machine, in the horizontal plane of the machine,,and is provided with i a platen movable endwise with the carriage and shiftablej .by a vibratory movement oblique to the" horizontal plane of the machine and transverse the line of the carriage feed, and on which the writing is eifected at the impression point on a line between the front side and top; 1

The platen issupported normally in writ-- ing position by two pairs of obliquely arranged arms or links the arms all being pivotally mounted at their rear ends concentrically with vthe 'rear guide rail; one

pair of said arms extending obliquely upward and having .journaled between them,

at-v their; front ends, the platen; and the other pair entending obliquely downward and having journaled between them, at their front ends, the front guide rail- Key actuated and spring actuated means are provided for normally maintaining the lower pair of arms and the front guide rail at their normal level and for moving them to one or more shifted levels; such means also operating, through suitable mechanism, for normallymaintaining the platen at its lower case printing level and for moving it to its shifted levels. The two pairs of arms, the platen and the two guide rails are all so connected together that in such shifting movementsthey all swing orrotate together, to vibrate the platen from one level to another; both pairs of arms swinging through equal arcs in such movement. The said vibratory, shifting movement of the platen is effected, at any portion of the endwise travel of the carriage along the guide rails,- by the shift. key and by the-platen balancing and lifting mechanism, the latter comprising levers actuatedby springs; such shift key and spring mechanism constituting a means adapted to rotate the guide rails about the axis of the rear guide rail as a pivot, and to thus shift the platen to a plurality of different levels and to two or more printing levels. In the machine shown the said spring mechanism serves to normally maintain the platen at its lower case printing level; and the platen is adapted to be lowered therefrom to the upper case printin level Joy-the depression of the shift key; an

on the release of the depressed shift key, the platen is again automatically lifted to lower case printing level by the said spring mechanism. The platen is adapted to be lifted above its lower case printing level by the lifting of the shift key, the shift key being adapted to be both lowered and lifted in the machine from the position in which it is normally held by its spring mechanism; and

this latter lifting movement ofthe platen is assisted, but not automatically effected, by the said platen lifting spring mechanism. The platen is also adapted to be swung-at will by hand, independently of the shift key and platen lifting spring mechanism, up off from. the front guide rail and thus oscillated to a still higher level, about the axis of the rear guide rail, at any portion of the endwise travel ofthe carriage along said. rails, to bring the line of print to such higher level, as for inspection and correction purposes, and to a position where the printed line will be in View of the operator through out its whole length; and in this latter movement the upper pair of arms the rear guide rail and the platen rotate together, independently of the lower pair of arms and the front guide rail, which remain stationary.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a detail side elevation of my type writing machine, some ofthe parts being cut away in longitudinal section to more clearly show the mechanism of the machine] F .2 is a side elevation with all the parts in place, on cepting that some details are omitted. 3 is a detail View of the type bars belonging to the left side of the machine, grouped to gether as they appear when in place in the type ring. Fig. 4 is a plan View of the machine. Fig. 5 is a front View, showing the machine as it appears to the operator. In this View the mechanism for feeding th "nitin'g ribbon is omitted. l T- is a detail of the platen and feed roll geared to other. Fig. 7 is a vertical section on lines K a. Fig. 4-, showing the ball bearings for i riage. Fig. 8 is a detail View of the shifting mechanism, showing the pl; of the parts in their normal state in full lines, and the positions of most of the parts in their two shifted states in dottei Fig. 9 is a detail View of shaiit which connects the same type b three levers, and of the connecting wire hetween the reel; shaft and the type bar, and the two slotted connecting wires which extend to two key levers, and the wire which forms the connection between the type bar and the carriage propelling power. Figoltl is a longitudinal section of a side elevation of some of the parts shown in Fig. 1, showing the type bar, rock shaftand connecting wires illustrated in Fig. 9, 'as they appear in the machine. Figs. ll and 12 are front and side elevations of the mechanism for rocking the rack forward out of engagement with the dogs to re aoeaoaa lease the carriage from theescapement, and showing the holder on the rack guide for preventing the normally engaging dog from spacing baekward when the rack has been swung inwardly far enough to disengage it from the dog.

Fig. 1 shows a sectional View of the base frame, 1. Extending in a perpendicular direction from the back portion of the base frame are the brackets 2 for the carriage guide rail 3 and the parts mounted on the guide rail. The principal parts which are mounted on the guide rail are the paper carriage l, the rack 5 (Fig. 7), and the carriage shifting frame 6 (Fig. 8). machine is placed the key board. Intermediate between the paper carriage and the key board the type bar plate? is mounted. on the base frame of the machine. The type bar plate inclines backward at a slight angle from the perpendicular plane. Fig. It shows a sectional view of the type bar plate, taken on the line Y Y of Fig. 4. The type bar plate comprises a ring with type bars mount ed concentrically thereonand pivoted in the usual manner so that they can all strike through the central opening in the ring to a common printing center on the platen 8. The type bar plate is inclined slightly backward from the perpendicular in order that the line of vision between the operator on the machine and the printing center may be clear and unobstructed. There is a central opening through the casing 9 which guards the type bar plate. Through this central opening the Writing on the platen may be clearly seen by the operator as soon as each letter has been printed. This is clearly shown in Fig. 5, which shows the printing as it appears to the operator. By this arrangement I am enabled to secure awholo type ring or ample room in which to pivot the type bars, and I also secure the addi tional advantage of printing in sight. Heretofore type writing machines have either been constructed to print out of sight or else the type bars have all been mounted in only one half and generally considerably less than one half of the type ring. By my present construction I have secured the advantages of both classes of machines withouttheir disadvantages.

in order to fully carry out my design of machine I use the following additional features: The inking ribbon 10 is mounted on the spools 11 and is fed from one spool to the other by theratchets l9; and the. pawls 13, which are connected with the dog carryi'ng rocker frame 14. ,The ribbon is fed when the rocker frame is operated. The ribloon passes through the ribbon guide or holder 15. The ribbon guide is pivoted to an arm, and at its lower end is connected by connecting wire with the rocker frame 14. When a, type key is depressed the rocker At the front of the The; type bars are connected with the key" levers 17 and are operated when the key levers are-depressed. Owing to their positions in the type .ring they cannot be con- 'nected to the key levers in theordinary manner 'by simple connecting wires. The method by which I connect them is as follows: I attach-a connecting; wire 18 to each type bar in the usual manner. These connectingwires extend in a direction substantially parallel with the direction of the type bars when at rest. At theirfront ends they are attached to bell crank levers 19. To the other ends of .the bell crank levers are at tache'dza second set of connecting wires 20; and these latter wires are extended downwardly and connected withthe key levers, in the usual manner. I have also provided means for keeping the space in front of the printing center on the platen clear of connecting wires so as not to obstruct the view of the writing. In order to accomplish this I have substituted rock shafts 21, (see Fig. 9) in place of the bell crank levers. By at taching the connecting wire 18 to the end of the rock shaft directly above the line of vision and the connecting wire 20 to the "other end of the rock shaft I remove the sets of type bars, one set being longer than the other. This is the well known method of setting the type bars in the plate which is adopted in order to secure greater length for the pivots than would. be possible if they were all of equal length and pivoted in a single circle. Each of the type bars carries a type head with two type characters, and part of the type bars have type heads with three characters each. The type heads on the bars directl above and below the printing center are in line with their'bars. But as thebars are arranged on the sides of the rings as well as aboveand below the printing, center the type heads are placed on the bars more and more obliquely until on the extreme sides of the rings they are placed on the bars at right angles. In rapid work the type heads are liableto collide when being returned to their normal positions with adjoining types which are being moved to the printing center. Y To avoid this danger I have made double bends Ion the long set of type bars near their "type heads for clearance with the short type bars. The

type heads which are set obliquely on their bars on the short bars fit nicely into the double bends on the long bars, because the end of the typehead on one side of the long 1 bar is lower down 'on the bar than is the one on the other side of the long bar. Fig. 3 shows the arrangement of" the bars on one side of the type bar plate, extending from the bar directly below the printing center around the side of the type bar plate and up to the bar directly above the printing center. The longer type bars are shown pivoted farther back than the shorter'bars,

and provided with the double bends near of double spacing keys which are-connected with the type characters which are frequently terminal characters. The row of- .double spacing keys is distinguished from the remainder of the'keys by being black with white letters, while the other keys-are white with black letters. The row of double spacing keys includes the letters S E D R F T Y N O and a blank double spec ing key (see Fig. 4). Their positions are especially advantageous in the key board,

' their type heads for clearance with the type 'to the top row of keys Ihave placed .a row' being directly back of and above the single spacing letter keys. In this position they are in full view of the operator'and are not covered by his hands in operating, as are the lower rows. Hence he can readily pick them out'in operating. I have found by practice that if the double spacing keys are placed in the body of the key board in the same rows with single spacing keys the operator will sometimes strike the double spacing key when he wishes to strike the single spacing key, and vice versa. By placing the double spacing keys in a row by themselves this danger is avoided. The row offigure keys is placed at the top of the key board back of the double spacing row of keys. This arrangement of the key board is adopted because the figure'keys are very little used with the letter keys. Hence the double spacing row of letter keys is placed just back of the single s'pacingletter keys so that the operator will nothave to move her hands unnecessarily in fingering, and the figure keys are'placed by themselves as shown.

In my United States Patent No. 616,840,

dated December 27, 1898, IF-h'ave shown two keys independently connected with the same type bar, by slotted connections, so that".

either key could be depressed without deof the carriage main spring to bearonjthe type bar to start it back to normal position after the printing has taken place, as will "be hereinafter fully described. -The construction of this device is shown in Figs. 9 and 10, in which the two slotted connecting wires 20 are connected with the same type bar23 through the rock shaft 21 and the connecting wire 18, and one wire 20, is connected with a single spacing key and the other 20, with a a double. spacing key; and there is a third wire 22, connected at one end to the type bar 23, through the rock'shaft 21,

and the wire 18, and connected at its other end with the spacing mechanism through .the keyless lever 24. I The paper carriage is of the general form described and claimed in my United States application Sr. No. 511,685 filed May 18,

i894. The paper-carriage 4, is mounted at its rear edge on the guide rail 3 and is fas tened to the rail by grooves in the carriage.

and corresponding grooves in the guide-rail,

and bearing balls in'thegrooves. The car-- riage is free to'tra'vel on the rail on the bearing balls, from oneend offlthe rail to the other for letter spacing- At its frontedge the carriage is provided with the roller 25 which rests and travels-with the carriage on'the front rail 26 (see Figs. 1 and 8). It

can be lifted ofi' from the front rail, and the.

carriage raised for inspection of the writing, etc, by taking hold of the front of the carriage and lifting it.

Fig. 1 shows the carriage in its normal position, and Fig. Qshows' it in its raised position. The arrows in Figs. 1 and 2 show the line of vision. lVhen the carriage is raised the guide rail is revolved with the carriage, the two being held together and revolved together on their axesby the bean. ingballsQY. A sectional view of the bearing balls and their grooves is shown in Fig.

7. There are two bearing balls on the top of the guide rail, and oneat the bottom of therail intermediately between the two on the top of-the rail. The front carriage rail is also pivoted concentrically with the guide rail 3 and the carriage l. The front railis supported by the arms 6 of the shifting frame. The carriage is shifted from its normal position in lower case to its shifted position in upper case by depressing the shifting frame 6 and the front rail 26. The is also shifted to a third position eashes for printing special characters, which are carried on certain of the type bars, by lifting the front rail. A. detail of the mechanism for shiftingthe front rail and the car,

riage down to upper case and for lifting higher than its normal position. When it v is desired to lift the shifting frame and the carriage to their upper position the spring 33 {and the lever 34 assist in overcoming the weight of the carriage. Hence the carriage can be easily lifted to shift it to special case.

There is only one shift key for all three cases. By depressing. the shift key the car-v riage is lowered to upper case, and by lifting the shift key the carriage is raised to special case, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8.

In machines heretofore invented with three types on a bar two-shiftkeys have been provided, one for shifting to capital letters and one for shifting to figures and other characters. I accomplish the same resultsby the use of one key by depressing the key-for one case and lifting it for the other case; As previously stated the car ,riage is held in its normal central position by the springs and 33. When the carriage has been shifted it tends to return to its central normal position under the influence of the springs. position from either of the shifted positions the carriage acquires such momentum that it is in danger of being carried'past the central position before coming to rest. Ifv

the next type key is struck rapidly while the carriage is coming to rest in central position after it has been carried by that position. by its own momentum the letter will be printed out of place in the line owing to the fact that In returning to the central the carriage had not come to rest before the printing took place. In order to avoid this danger it is desirable to provide some means for bringing thecarriage to rest at its central position before any printing can occur. I accomplish this object by aid of a spring actuated cam with. beveled faces which engages the carriage when it arrives at its central position and prevents it from vibrating tar beyond the central position, and. brings it quickly to rest at its normal position. The device is clearly shown in Fig. 8; The beveled lips 35 and 36 on the checking lever 37, engage the upper and lower faces ofthe prong 38 onthe extreme front oftheshift} in frame 6 when the carriage is in its centra normal position. Near the lower end of the lever 37 is the arm 39 which projects forward. and pressed upward by there when it is returned from its shifted position in either direction. When the carriage is rapidly returned to its central position, as it. alwaysis when the shift key ,is released rapidly, the lever 37 doesnot'immediately. arrest the carriage on its arrival at central position, but owing to the fact that the lips 35 .and 36, andthecorresponding faceson the prong '38 are beveled, the carriage is permitted to pass beyond the central position. The function of the spring 40 acting through the lever 37, is h wever, to assist the springs 30 and 33, and reinforce them at the central position, thuspreventing the carriage from passing any great distance beyond normal position, and bringing it to rest much more quickly than would be the case if only the springs 30 and 33 were employed. The bevels-on the lips 35 and 36 are so slight that the force exerted bythe spring 40 on the arm 39, is multiplied at the points of engagement of the lever 37, with the prong 38.

The lever 37 is also provided with two-otherbeveled faces 41 and 42, which are engaged by the roller 43, the face 41 being engaged when:the shift key 28 is depressed, and the face 42 being engaged, when the shift key is lifted. The beveling on the faces 41 and 42, is much greater than the beveling on the lips 35 and 36, and hence the spring 40, ex-- erts less-pressure on the shift key 28, than it does on the prong 38. Hence the shift key can be easily lifted and depressed, and at the same time enough pressure is exerted on the prong 38 to bring the carriage quickly to rest in centralposition. I have .shown this feature applied to a shifting paper carriage, but it may be equally well applied to the various, forms of shifting mechanism known. Thus it is applicable to machines in. which the type bars are shifted for printing upper caseand figures, the carriage remaining stationary. In Figs. 1 and 2 the lip 36, and the beveled face 41,

' are omitted. Therefore in the construction as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there is no extra force applied to check the carriage on its return from special case, but only on its return from capital letter case. Otherwise the construction is the same as that shown in Fig. 8. In the'form shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the force'of the spring 40, is not opposed to the for checking the carriage on, its return from special case, and therefore the force needed ,to depress, theishiftjkey for capital letter case is"-reduced.- In 8, on the other hand the carriage is checked by the spring 40, on its return fromfboth directions.

1 -The shiftk'ey 28, is connected with the .shifting frame 6 by the connecting link 29 (see Fig. 8). At the lower end of the link 29 there is a slot, and on the shift key lever there is a pin 44 which works in the slot, This arrangement enables the roller '43 to disengage the lever 37 from its obstructive engagement with the prong 38, before the shifting off'the carriage is begun.

*In order .to, insurc' good alinement it is essential that the carriage be secured against any loose movement on the guide rail. This is effected by the rooves in the rail and the bearing balls 2 in the grooves. The two bearing'balls .on the top of the guide rail 3, rest in the groove in the top of the rail. Corresponding grooves are provided in the carriage frame 4, which rests on top of the two bearing balls. On the under side of the guide rail there is one bearing ball which rests in the groove in the bottom of the rail. Below the ball in the bottom groove is a" rooved casing 45, which holds the ball int e groove in the bottom of the rail and prevents it from escaping out of the groove. The carriage frame 4, and the lower casing 45, and the bearing balls' 27, and the gulde rail 3, are all fastened together by the rack supporting clamps 46. 46, which encircle the carriage frame and the casing 45. The rack clamps 46, canbe adjusted by the adjusting screws 47 47, so as to takeup any looseness of the carriage on h g e na l. t

In order that the carriage may run easily and smoothly on the guide rail there must be no crowding .of the bearing balls in their grooves, and on the other hand in order to insure good alinement of the print there must not'be any looseness of the balls in their grooves. In order to provide against any imperfection in the, grooves which might cause looseness of the balls in some places in the grooves and binding of the balls in other places, I have provided springs 48 48, whose function it is to take up any looseness of the balls in their grooves. The -rack clamps 46 46, are adjusted sufficiently tight to insure that the bearing/balls shall 'not escape out of their grooves. The springs 48 48, are fastened by screws. onto two projections on the carriage frame 4, which extend down and under the guide rail (Fig. 7). The springs 48 48, extend under the casing45 and pressing the casing upward as well as drawing the carriage frame '4 downward, push all three of the bearing balls 27, .firmly into their grooves. The springs 48 48, are only just strong enough to insure that there shall be no looseness of the carriage at the prlnting center and they, do not exert pressure enough on the balls to cause detrimental against the platen by spring pressure applied to the pulleys. The arms 52 and 53, which respectively support the pulleys J0 and 51, are jointed by the pivot 54:, and the spring 55, which is fastened at one end on the arm 52, and at the other end on the arm 53, pulls the two arms together, causing the front pulley to be raised until the band 49, is firmly pressed. against the platen 8. A number of holes for securing the spring 55, are drilled in the arm 52, (three being shown in Fig. 6). These ,holes are for the purpose of regulating the tensions of the two bands 4L9 4:9, equally at the two ends of the platen, to insure perfect feed of the paper on the platen. If the tension of the feed band at one end of the platen is greater than that at the other end the paper is apt to feed faster at one end than at the other, and hence the adjustments are provided to accurately regulate the tensions. On the right hand end of the platen there is a gear wheel 56, and on the right hand end of the feed roller there is a gear wheel 57. Thesetwo gear wheels respectively intermesh with the pinions 58 and 59, and the pinions mesh together. Hence any move ment of the platen about its axis is transmitted through the gears and the pinions to the feed roller. The ratio of the gears and pinions to each other is such that the feed roller is caused to revolve at its periphery at exactly the same rate of speed that the platen does at its'periphery. The two pinionsare inserted between the gears 56 and 57, so that when a large quantity of paper is inserted on the platen the intermeshing of the teeth of the gears and the-pinions will be preserved. This is accomplished by pivoting the pinion 59, im- Inediately below the gear 57, in line with the pivot 54:, of the arm 52, which carries the feed roller.

At the left hand end of the platen there is a ratchet wheel 60, with its teeth facing outwardly. Mounted on the left hand end of the carriage is a platen rotating lever 61, with its rock shaft 62, and ratchet pawl 63, (Figs. 1 2 4 and 5). This is a well known construction for rotating the platen. The platen can also'be rotated by hand by the hand wheels 64 64.

. The carriage is normally held in check by the engagement of the rack 5, with the front dog 65,- on the rocker frame 14:. A rack guide 66, holds the rack in its normal position (Fig. 12 in its normal position by any suitable force, as say a spring or gravity, and returned by such force to its normal position after it has .been moved to disengage the rack from the dog 65. On the guide 66, is a strip 67, which is bent around so that it asses under the rack and engages it on eaci side. On the left hand end of the carriage is the carriage release key 68, which is pivoted to a shaft on the opposite end of which the hook 69 is fastened. The hook'69, engages the rack guide 66. By pushing the carriage release key 68 backward, the rack guide is swung,

forward,- revolving the rack on its clamps 46, and so disengaging the rack from the dog 65. The carriage can then be moved to any desired position and upon the release of the key 68 the rack guide will return to its normal position, thus reengaging the rack with the dog 65. The rear end of the strip 67, is bent forwardly and passes behind the rear dog 70, at some distance from that dog, so that the dog 70 has plenty of room for reciprocating on its axis. The strip 67 terminates in the tip 71, (Fig. 11). This tip is normally just in the rear of the path in which the dog 65 reciprocates. But when the rack guide is swung forward to release the rack from the dog 65, the tip 71 is brought forward into the path of the dog 65, immediately back of the single spacing face 72 on the dog. The dog 65 is thus prevented from spacing backward when out of engagement with the rack, and thereforewhen the carriage has been brought into the desired position and the key 68, released the carriage will remain in the posit-ion in which it is releasedinstead of being spaced forward as would be the case if the dog '65 had been left free to space backward when out of engagement with the rack. Fig. 12 shows the key 68 pushed back, the rack released, and the tip 71 back of the dog 65.

The escapement may be of any approved type, and it is not necessary for the purposes of this case, to indicate the character there of, other than as I havealready done.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The rack guide may be held 1. In a typewriting machine, the combi- I nation of a carriage, a platencarried thereby, a series of type-bars each bearing a p111.

rality of characters, a carriage guide rail, a

carriage shifting rail, both the carriage and the carriage shifting rail being mounted to turn about the axis of the carriage guide rail, and means for manually moving the platen .to an observation position at any time, substantially as described.

7 2, In atypewriting machine provided with a platen shiftable to upper case and guide rail, spaclng mechanism whereby the carriageis fed on the rail lengthwise there of, a shift key and means for thereby rotating the carriage about the axis of the rail to lower case printing positions, the combina-- shift the platen from one printing position to the other, and means for rotating the carriage about the axis ofti'ie rail independently of the shiftkey, substantially as described.

3. In a typewriting machine provided 7 with a platen 'shiftable to upper case and lower case printing positions, the combination of a carriage for the platen, a carriage guide rail, means for supporting the car .riage upon the rail and for fastenlng 1t thereon, spacing mechanism whereby the carriage is fed on the rail lengthwise thereof, a shift key and means for thereby rotating the carriage about the axis of the rail to shift the platen from one printing position to theother, and means for rotating the carriage about the axis of the rail independently of the shift key, substantially as described.

4. In a typewriting machine provided with a platen shiftable to upper case and tion of a carriage for the platen, a carriage guide rail, grooves in the carriage and corresponding grooves inthe rail and bearing balls in the grooves whereby the carriage is supported upon the rail and fastened thereon, spacing mechanism whereby the car-- riage is fed on the rail lengthwise thereof, a shift key and means for thereby rotating the carriage about the axis of the rail to shift the platen from one printing position to'the other, and means for rotating the carriage about the axis of the rail independently of the shift key, substantially as-described.

5. In a typewriting machine wherein the same keys operate both lower case, letters and uppercase letters'for printing, the combination of a carriage, a carriage guide rail, carriage spacing mechanism comprising carriage propellin power and a toothed member mounted on r e carriage and controlled by escapementdogs whereby the carriage is fed on the'rail lengthwise thereof, a shift key and means for thereby rotating the carriage from ,lower case to upper case printing position about the axis of the rail,"

carriage is so shifted, substantially as de-' scribed.

7. In a typewriting machine wherein the same keys operate both lower case letters and uppeiTzEise letters for printing, the combination of a carriage, a carriage guide rail, grooves in the carriage and, corresponding grooves in the rail and bearing balls in the grooves whereby the carriage is supported on the rail and fastened to the rail, spacing mechanism comprising carriage propelling power and two engaging escapement'members whereby the carriage is'fed on the rail lengthwise thereof, a shift key and means for thereby rotating the carriage from lower case to upper case printing position about the axis of the rail, and a guide for holding the two said members in the spacing mechanism in engagement when thecarriage is so shifted, substantially as described.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination with the escapement dogs of a platen carriage and a rack bar to control the carriage, both the carriage and the rack bar being movable endwise together and both hinged concentrically about a common guide rail. and a guide to hold the rack bar at its toothed edge in operative relation with the escapement dogs, substantially as described.

9. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen carriage and a rack bar movable endwise together and both hinged concentrically about a common guide rail. a

guide which engages the rack bar at itstoothed edge to control it in engagement with a dogfand a carriage release key for shifting said .rack guide and for thereby disengaging the rack from the dog, substanv tially as described.

10. In a typewriting m'achinewherein the same keys operate for printing lower case letters, upper case letters and special case characters, all under control of the same shift key, the combination of a shifting carriage, the shift key therefor, means connected with the key for shifting the carriage from lower case to upper case when the shift key is depressed and for shiftingfrom lower case to special case when the shift key is lifted, a stopfor checking the 'carriage when it is returned from upper case.

to lower case, and means connected with the key for engaging the stop and removing it from its obstructive position -.when the shift keyis lifted, substantially described.

11. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a shifting carriage, shifting mech anism for holding the carriage normally in a central position and for causing it to move in both directions from its central position, a key for shifting the carriage out of its central position, spring mechanism for returning the carriage to its central position, stop mechanism including a spring actuated beveled face for checking the carriage on its return to central position, and a beveled face on the stop mechanism which is actuated by the said key for removing the stop mechanism from its obstructive position, the two said faceson the stop mechanism being beveled at different angles from one another whersl' 7 the carriage checking spring is applied with greater force at its point of application for checking the carriage than it is applied to the shift key, sub stantially as described.

12. In a front strike typewriter, the combination of the type bars, each bearing a plurality of type characters, the platen, a key, spring operated means for maintaining the platen normally at a printing level in which the lower case characters on the type bars register with the platen for printing,

means operated by the key for moving the platen to another level in which the upper case characters register withthe platen for printing, means operated by the key for moving the platen to a level higher than both said printing levels, and a spring mechanism tending to move the platen to the.

last mentioned level, substantially as described.

13. In a front strike typewriter, the combination of the carriage and the platen thereon adapted to assume a plurality of printing positions at different levels, and spring mechanism arranged and adapted to automatically lift the platen from one printing levelto another and to assist in lifting it to a level above bothsaid printing levels, substantially as described.

14. Ina front strike typewriter, the combination of the carriage and the platen thereon adapted to assume a plurality of printing posit-ions at different levels, a spring mechanism comprising two springs arranged .and adapted to automatically lift the platen from its-lowest printing position to a higher one, and. means for putting one spring out of action at the last mentioned position and for permitting the other spring to assist in lifting the platen to a still higher level, substantially as described.

15. In a visible writ-ing typewriting machine, the combination of a main frame, a laterally movable platen supporting carriage, and a supplemental frame which entirelysupports the carriage and is pivoted to the main frame.

combination of a platen carriage, a support- .ing frame therefor, comprising a race bar with two race-ways,two opposing race-ways 1n' the carnage, and interposed rolling devices in said race-ways, the axial lines of the frame pivoted to the main frame, a race bar with two race-ways in the supplemental frame, two opposing race-ways in the carriage, interposed rolling devices in the raceways, and key-actuated means for oscillating' the supplemental frame to move the carriage to a plurality of printing positions at differentlevels. w

19. In a front strike typewriter, the combination with the main frame and carriage, of asupplemental carriage supporting frame pivoted to the main frame, a race bar with two. race-ways in the supplemental frame, two opposing race-ways in the can riage, interposed rolling devices in the raceways, said race-ways and rolling devices being all arranged in substantially the same plane, and key-actuated means for oscillat- 20. In a front strike typewriter, the comstantially the same length as that in the race bar, interposed rolling devices, and key-actuated means to oscillate said supple mental frame and the carriage thereon.-

21. In a visible writing machine, the com bination with the main frame, of a carriage having a raceway, a supplemental carriage supporting frame having an opposible raceway and pivoted to the main frameto place the carriage in two printing positions, in

terposed rolling devices in said. race-ways, I

and key actuated means for oscillating the rolling devices with. the carriage and supplebination with the main frame and carriage; of a supplemental frame pivoted to the main frame and which entirely supports the carriage, opposing guide parts on the car-- riage and frame 'and interposed-rolling devices, and a shift-key to oscillate the carriage from one printing position to another.

23. In a visible-writing typewriting machine in which the type-bars swing upwardly and rearwardly to the platen, the combination of a main frame, a laterallymovable platen-carriage, and a supplemental frame which entirely supports the carriage and is pivoted to the main frame to-swing up and down to .place theplaten in different printing posit-ions, said supplemental frame being connected to the main frame by pivots 'located in rearof the platen and parallel therewith, substantially as described.

' 24. In a visible writing machine, the combination of a carriage comprising race ways, a pivoted race bar whereon the carriage runs, race ways in the race bar, interposed rolling devices in the race ways between the carriage and race bar, and means, including a shift key, for simultaneously shiftin the race bar with the carriage, by aid 0% the Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of IPatents,

race ways and interposed rolling ,devices,'to.

enable different types to'print. I

25. 'In a front strike writing machine, the

combination of a series of rearwardly strik-. ing types, a platen, a platen carriage, jan

oscillatory support whereon said carriage runs, means for oscillating said support to enable diiferenttypes to print, two race ways in the carriage, two corresponding race ways in the support, rolling devices in the race Ways, and means for oscillating one pair of race ways in one'direction and the' other pair in the opposite direction when the support and carriage are oscillated.

26. In a front strike typewriter, the combination with a platen carriage, a shift frame moving the carriage to two printing positions and comprising a race bar with two race ways, two opposing race ways in the carriage, and two sets of interposed rolling devices in said race ways, of means for moving one'set of said rolling devices in one direction and the other set in the opposite direction when the carriage is shifted from one printing position to the other.

FREDERIC W. HILLARD Witnesses:

THOMAS EWING, Jr., HY H. WHITMAN.

Washington, D. 0. 

